Troy Ounces to Micrograms (oz t to µg)

1 troy ounce equals 31,103,476.8 micrograms exactly.

1 troy ounce = 31,103,476.8 micrograms

How to convert troy ounces to micrograms

To convert troy ounces to micrograms, multiply the number of troy ounces by 31,103,476.8. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply micrograms by 3.215074657×10⁻⁸ (rounded).

micrograms = troy ounces × 31,103,476.8

Example: 10 troy ounces = 311,034,768 micrograms.

About these units

Troy Ounce (oz t)

Troy & apothecaries'Current unit

Exactly 31.1034768 g (480 grains). The standard unit for precious metals; gold and silver prices are quoted per troy ounce.

Nobody is certain where troy weight got its name. The usual explanation is the fairs of Troyes in France, where English merchants traded by the early 9th century, and the word troy appears in English in 1390. An alternative theory ties it to a word for weighing by balance, though it is unsourced. Troy weights were first used in England in the 15th century and made official for gold and silver in 1527. The British Imperial troy ounce was adopted in 1824 and became the basis for US coinage through an act of Congress in 1828.

The troy ounce is exactly 31.1034768 g, or 480 grains, about 9.7 percent heavier than the ordinary avoirdupois ounce. A troy pound has only 12 ounces and is lighter than the avoirdupois pound, a mismatch that catches many first-time bullion buyers. Troy ounces remain the standard in precious-metal markets, even in countries that otherwise use SI, so gold, silver and platinum prices are all quoted per troy ounce. In the UK it is the only troy unit still permitted in trade, and only for precious metals.

1 troy ounce = 0.0311034768 kilograms (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Troy ounce; Wikipedia: Ounce; NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)

Microgram (µg)

Metric (SI)Current unit

One millionth of a gram. Used for very small doses such as vitamin B12 and folic acid; often written mcg on labels.

Tiny doses forced the microgram into everyday use. It is one millionth of a gram, written with the SI prefix micro and the Greek letter mu, but that letter caused trouble: handwritten or badly printed, mu can look like a lowercase m, which would turn micro into milli and make a dose a thousand times too large. For that reason the US Institute for Safe Medication Practices and the FDA recommend writing mcg in medical communication, while UK prescribing guidance says microgram should be written out in full rather than abbreviated.

You meet the unit mostly on nutrition labels and in medicine, where amounts such as folic acid and vitamin B12 are given in micrograms. It also matters in laboratories. According to NIST, the old kilogram prototype gave relative uncertainties of a few parts in ten thousand at the milligram level, and fields such as pharmaceuticals and materials science increasingly need dependable accuracy down at the microgram, which was one argument for redefining the kilogram with a fundamental constant. In text where mu is unavailable, people type u or the micro sign instead.

1 microgram = 1×10⁻⁹ kilograms (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Microgram; NIST: Kilogram introduction (SI redefinition)

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